The need for speedy, efficient and economical fruit harvesting operations is virtually undisputable. Most small fruits, such as grapes, peaches, tomatoes, berries, etc., require speedy and careful handling and processing in order to maintain maximum flavor, freshness and taste. On large tracts, extensive plantings of small fruits such as wine grapes permit the use of large, expensive machines to accomplish harvest. For instance, in areas of California, these expensive machines have largely supplanted manual harvesting. However, even where manual harvesting has proven cost effective, wine makers remain interested in hand picked produce because it gentles the process; yielding higher quality produce for wine making. In the eastern United States, small orchards and vineyards predominate. In such areas, machine harvesting is inappropriate and is comparatively rare. In some states, such as Virginia, the average vineyard is approximately five acres. At such establishments, self-propelled or tractor-drawn mechanical grape harvesters are cost-prohibitive and rare. Thus, most grapes, peaches, tomatoes, berries and other small fruits are picked by hand.
The hand-picking process is extremely labor intensive and, in the case of wine grapes, exposes the vineyard owner to the risk of many unanticipated expenses over and above the basic cost for harvesting. These costs are both monetary, i.e. incurred in the form of bonuses paid for ensuring that each picking basket or lug is completely full of fruit; or indirectly monetary, i.e. in the difficulty for arranging sufficient pickers to gather the vineyard fruit when it reaches optimum ripeness. In such enterprises, the vineyard owner cannot anticipate the vagaries of ripening or weather. This is further compounded because grapes can proceed from ripe to rot with alarming speed.
As can be appreciated, grape varieties tend to mature at the same time in any given region, thus, the competition for labor can be extremely intense at harvest time. All too often, a small grower finds that he must enlist the assistance of himself, his family and friends to ensure that the grape crop is gathered and delivered to the winery expeditiously without costly and deleterious delays. As can be appreciated, cut grapes aspirate rapidly losing weight. Additionally, enzymes start converting grape juices to vinegar as soon as the stem is cut. Thus, small producers which represent the numerical majority in the business have a strong interest in providing means whereby pickers are capable of filling the picking baskets or lugs to their capacity in a rapid, safe and efficient manner.
The present method for manual harvesting of small fruit such as grapes generally employs a hand-held picking tool such as a sharp pair of pointed scissors or shears. These shears have a double blade and a biasing means holding the blades in the open position. Compressive force exerted on the blade handles causes the blades to contact one another, severing anything interposed between the two blade surfaces.
The picker holds these shears in his dominant, usually right, hand. The fruit to be harvested is grasped in the picker's left hand and the stem snipped by the shears held in the right. Grape bunches are picked one by one and deposited in a lug lying at the picker's feet. The picking action requires significant eye-to-hand coordination. This is particularly true when the fruit is obscured behind plant foliage such as grape leaves. Such obstruction often results in self-inflicted wounds for frequently, the picker's eye mispercieves where his left hand is actually located. This type of injury is so common that some growers require their pickers to dawn protective tape on their left forefingers before beginning harvesting.
Thus, it can be appreciated that an improved hand-held picking device would be highly desirable. It is desirable that such a device be capable of enabling the picker to grasp at fruit alternately or simultaneously with either hand. It is also desirable that the device enable a picker to severe the stem of the fruit without crushing or damaging the fruit and retain it in the palm of his hand for subsequent deposit into an appropriate gathering container. It is further desirable that the device be easily positionable on the appropriate region of the hand and capable of being maintained in position without excessive manipulation by the picker. It is further desirable that the device contribute to the ergonomic efficiency of the harvesting operation.